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Thailand Royal Thai Air Force
The Royal Thai Air Force was the most recently formed of the
three services. The air force had a command structure consisting
of five groups: headquarters, logistics support, education,
special services, and combat forces. The headquarters group in
Bangkok performed the usual general staff functions, including
planning and directing operations of the combat elements. The
logistics support group provided engineering, communications,
ordnance, transportation, quartermaster, and medical services
support. The education group coordinated and supervised all air
force training programs. The special service group was
responsible for the welfare of air force personnel and
coordinated the activities of Thai civil aviation with those of
the air force.
The operational units of the air force were organized into
two functional elements: a tactical air command structured and
equipped for conventional warfare and an aerial security force
trained and geared for counterinsurgency and other internal
security missions. In 1987 the tactical air command had a combat
force of one squadron committed to forward ground attack, two
squadrons of fighter-interceptors also used for armed
reconnaissance, a separate reconnaissance squadron that also
served in a training role, three transport squadrons, one utility
squadron, two helicopter squadrons, and one training squadron.
The security force consisted of seven counterinsurgency
squadrons, equipped with helicopter gunships, and other light
aircraft suitable for counterinsurgency operations. Airfield
security was provided by four battalions of troops trained in
perimeter defense tactics.
The air force maintained a number of modern bases from which
it conducted its administrative, transport, and training
operations. The bases, which were constructed between 1954 and
1968, had permanent buildings, sophisticated ground support
equipment, and some of the best runways in Asia. All but one were
part of the network of airfields built and used by United States
forces until their withdrawal from Thailand in 1976.
Consolidating the equipment left by the departing units in
accordance with government-to-government agreements, the Thai air
force assumed use of the installations at Ta Khli and Nakhon
Ratchasima. In the late 1980s, these bases and Don Muang Air Base
outside Bangkok, which the air force shared with civil aviation,
remained the primary operational holdings. Maintenance of the
facilities at other bases abandoned by the United States proved
too costly and exceeded Thai needs. Nonetheless, all runways were
still available for training and emergency use.
The American withdrawal had quickly revealed to the Thai
Supreme Command the inadequacy of its air force in the event of a
conventional war in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, in the 1980s the
government allotted large amounts of money for the purchase of
modern aircraft and spare parts. Thirty-eight F-5E and F-5F
fighter-bombers purchased from the Northrop Corporation formed
the nucleus of the air force's defense and tactical firepower.
The F-5Es were accompanied by training teams of American civilian
and military technicians, who worked with members of the Thai air
force. In addition to the F-5E and F-5F fighter-bombers, OV-10C
aircraft, transports, and helicopters were added to the air force
equipment inventory (see
table 19, Appendix). In 1985 the United
States Congress authorized the sale of the F-16 fighter to
Thailand. A total of twelve of these aircraft were scheduled for
delivery in 1988.
Data as of September 1987
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